Customer Service Desk Software: Looking Forward

December 29, 2014

SupportDesk Customer Service Desk Software

The Service Desk or Help Desk is the customer service shop front of modern businesses. It is the point of contact for customers and end-users who may be searching for IT support, requesting equipment, registering complaints, reporting facilities maintenance jobs, logging HR tickets, making Freedom of Information Requests, and so on. Therefore, the process of logging calls to the help desk needs to be straight-forward, quick and friendly. The quality of customer service that you provide can make or break relationships: it can be the deciding factor of whether a customer stays with you, or leaves to find a better customer experience.

We’ve all been there: sitting on hold for hours, speaking to someone different each time, having to re-iterate the initial problem to the support team because they have no record of your previous call. It’s frustrating – don’t let this be the experience of your customers!

There are many simple ways in which you can provide the best customer experience looking forward:

1. Invest in a service desk software solution that is best for your business: Do your research: does it have everything you need to support your service desk processes? Does it have the longevity to change as your business evolves, without the necessity for expensive consultancy for even the smallest alteration? Are updates to the latest release of the software always free on support?

2. Spend time designing the best support process for you, centred around the customer experience: Before configuring your product, ensure that you have spent time designing a support process that makes it simple for agents to log Incidents, Problems, Requests, Changes, while at the same time, providing the maximum amount of contact with the end user. Automatic emails at specific call milestones, pre-configured call forms and mail templates, Live Chat, Customer self-service web portal: these are all essential features of a customer service desk software tool.

3. Plan for change and ask for feedback: It may be that new customers require different levels of support, or changes to your processes are needed to enhance efficiency. It may be that further down the line, your business expands into new areas, locations and products. Whatever it may be, the service desk software tool needs to have the flexibility to evolve with you. It is the helpdesk agents and customers that can let you know if your support service needs alterations – so ask for feedback, and why not do this through your service desk tool?

4. Make it personal:Personalisation of the customer web self-service portal so that it displays the company logo of the customer logging in, their name, their list of calls Open and Resolved, their company colours: it’s the little details like this that set you ahead of the competition. Ensure that your customers feel valued by making their experience as friendly and personal as possible. You could set emails to be sent automatically to let them know who the Assignee on the call is or if this changes, if notes have been added, or if the call has been resolved. Regular communication and being transparent with the status of calls shows your customers you care, and reassures them that their requests are being worked on.

5. Cloud or On-Site, and the ability to switch: There is much debate about the future of service desk software and whether it will eventually all move up into the Cloud. There has been an upward trend of companies opting for SaaS helpdesk solutions, but there will always be, understandably, organisations that prefer having the tool implemented on-site. There are benefits of both On-Site and Cloud helpdesks, so it is important to choose whatever suits you the most, and not just adhere to current trends. Service Desk suppliers often supply both deployment options, so if there is the capability to move from On-Site to the Cloud, or vice versa further down the line as your requirements change, then that is a big advantage.